Music, video, images, sound recordings, and other renderable content are increasingly purchased and consumed in the form of media files or streaming media data through the use of electronic computing devices such as personal computers, personal data assistants (PDA), portable media players such the IPOD and ZUNE, and smart telephones. Whereas historically consumers would maintain a library of physical media assets such as vinyl records, cassette tapes, and compact discs, now consumers are increasingly storing their media assets in the form of electronic media files.
As electronic media assets have become more accepted, consumers' needs for managing and accessing their media library have changed. For example, many consumers are frustrated by the current personal computer-centric approach in which all media assets owned by a consumer must be either stored on to the consumer's personal computer. Ripping media content from physical media onto the personal computer is time-consuming. In addition, if the consumer's personal computer fails or the data is lost, then the process must be repeated. Downloading media content to the personal computer is equally time-consuming and often raises compatibility issues related to the downloaded form of the data and any digital rights management system that may be incorporated into the downloaded media content. Other systems of media asset management are similarly cumbersome and time-consuming.
Thus, modern consumers need an easy and simple way to manage their media assets.